Suction tip for surgical instruments

ABSTRACT

A suction tip for a surgical instrument includes a hollow housing having a top flat wall and a bottom flat wall and including a proximal end and a distal end. The distal end has a widened tip portion that is wider than the proximal end. The distal end may have a plurality of suction ports located at its front, top, right side and left side of the widened tip portion. Furthermore a ledge portion may protrude outwardly past a terminal end of the top flat wall to provide a clear space between the suction ports and tissue for evacuation of fluid in the clear space.

This application claims priority to Provisional application Ser. No. 61/280,873 filed on Nov. 10, 2009, the entire contents of which is incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a surgical instrument with suctioning tip. More particularly the suctioning tip encompasses a wide range of evacuation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The importance of surgical retractors is well known in surgical procedures. A surgeon needs an exposure as best as possible while inflicting a minimum of trauma to the surrounding tissue. In some operations, such as oral surgery, a surgeon uses the tongue retractor to protect a patient's tongue from the medical procedure. An assistant surgeon or nurse performs continuous suctioning of fluid by placing a suction tube into the patient's mouth and performing the necessary evacuation to protect the patient from inhaling or swallowing fluids and scattered debris. Every time the assistant performs the evacuation process, the surgeon needs to halt the procedure and stop for few moments while the evacuation process takes place. To overcome this type of problem, there are few surgical retractors that have been designed with a suction tube mounted on the top of the tool to allow the surgeon to perform the evacuation process while performing the surgical procedure. Although the prior art devices eliminate some issues associated with this type of problem, there are limitations regarding suctioning of narrow range areas.

However, this invention overcomes the shortcomings and solves the problems associated with the prior art. This invention provides an improved suctioning tip for a wider range of evacuation that can be mounted on a conventional surgical retractor tip or it can be an integral part of a surgical retractor as a unitary piece.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved suctioning tip for a surgical instrument to cover a wider range of evacuation without creating any trauma to surrounding tissues. The suction tip apparatus comprises a hollow housing which has a proximal end and a distal end. At its distal end, the widened tip portion has a plurality of suction ports located at its front, on top, on its right side and also on left side. These suction ports along with the widened tip portion allow for suctioning of a wider range of an area. Furthermore a ledge portion provides a clear space between the suction ports and the tissue for means of evacuation and collection of fluid. An exit port near the proximal end is also provided for discharging fluid.

In preferred embodiment of present invention, the improved suction tip is an integral part of a surgical retractor. This unitary part can be designed in any desired shaped with respect to the shape of suctioning tip widen area.

It is also an object of this invention to mount or adapt a suctioning tip apparatus to any conventional surgical instrument that requires the wider range evacuation features.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from consideration of the drawings and descriptions that follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments to the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. It is to be understood that in some instances various aspects of the invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate an understanding of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a surgical retractor with suction tip showing the present invention of preferred embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of a surgical retractor as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the suction tip showing in FIG. 1

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the suction tip as shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a section view taken along line 6-6 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of second embodiment of present invention.

FIG. 8 is a section view taken along line 8-8 in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a cross section view taken along line 9-9 in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a top perspective view of third embodiment of present invention shown as assembled to a conventional surgical refractor.

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the an alternative embodiment of the suction tip.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner.

FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a surgical retractor 10 with an improved suctioning tip. The retractor 10 is a right angle surgical tool that can be used in numerous surgical procedures such as oral surgery, vaginal surgery, abdominal surgery and etc. The surgical retractor 10 is made as a unitary part either in stainless steel material or in polymeric material such as polyetherimide or polyimide. One advantage of polymeric material is that it is non-conductive compared to stainless steel material and therefore is safer to use in some surgeries where thermal heat is involved and also they are disposable.

The surgical retractor 10 comprises a hollow housing that has a distal end 20 and a proximal end 22. At the distal end 20, the widened tip portion 12 has a plurality of suction ports 14 located at its front 12 a, on top 12 b, on its right side 12 c and on the left side 12 d. These suction ports 14 along with the widened tip portion allow for evacuation of a wider range of an area. Furthermore a ledge member 16 may extend out from its frontal side 12 a of the widened tip portion for the purpose of abutting the tissue and providing a clear path between the suction ports 12 and the tissue for means of evacuation and collection of fluid in specified area “d”. At the neck portion 18 of the suctioning tip 12, a narrow channel is formed with respect to its hollow housing for passage of any evacuation via its suction ports located at the widened tip portion 12. In this embodiment the tool body has a handle 24 near its proximal end 22 portion. The proximal end 22 also includes a vacuum hose connection port 26 for means of connecting a vacuum source to the surgical retractor 10. The connection port 26 include various sizes of connection to adapt different sizes of vacuum hose.

In general, the underside 30 of the surgical retractor 10 is flattened as shown in FIG. 2. In order to secure retractor 10 over body part in surgical procedures, serrated features 32 and recessed areas 36 have been added to the bottom of the retractor. These features eliminate any tool slippage over the body part. Also there may be suction ports added to the bottom to grab the body part if needed per specific tool operation.

In FIG. 3, a cross section of the unitary surgical retractor 10 is shown. When the vacuum flow enters into the tip chamber 12 e via its suction ports 14, it is directed toward the narrow portion which is the neck area 18 and then via its lumen 40 directed to exit port 28 at the proximal end 22.

Referring to FIGS. 4-5, enlarged views of the suction tip of the surgical tool are illustrated. The widened tip portion of the suction tip 12 has a wide range for collecting fluid or scattered particles as it is shown in operational angle a. Once the suction tip is abutting the tissue “T”, the tip's ledge 16 provides a clear distance “d” between the tip and the tissue “T”. Therefore a clearance path is provided for collecting fluid without direct contact of the suction ports to tissue. The advantages of this feature are to eliminate grabbing of the tissue by the frontal suction ports. Another-advantage of having the multiple suction ports at the tip portion is to have continuous vacuum discharge regardless of whether some ports may be blocked. Once the vacuum is applied, the flow travels via the lumen 40 to the exit port at the distal end 22 as best shown in the cross section view FIG. 6.

FIGS. 7-9 illustrate a second embodiment of the improved suction tip 100 that can be adaptable and provide a wider range suctioning tip to an existing surgical tube 200. The tube's tip 220 snugly fits at the proximal end 122 of the suction tip 100. Once the tip 220 is secured into the distal end lumen 140, the tube's body 224 can be placed into the “U” shaped suction tip. The purpose of the “U” shape is to eliminate any tube 200 rotation and securely keep the suction tube in place with respect to the suction tip 100.

A third embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 10-11. In this embodiment, the suction tip 300 is shown as a separated piece that is mountable to an existing surgical retractor 400 by placing it over the retractor tip 420. The suctioning tip apparatus 300 can be secured by means of attaching to the surgical retractor such as a clip 330, which is located at the bottom portion of the distal end 322 of the suctioning tip 300. Other means of attachment include adhesive or any fasteners between these two parts. Once the suction tip apparatus is placed over the surgical retractor, it can be connected to a vacuum tube 360 which provides a suction source to the tip portion.

A modified version of the suction tip apparatus 500 is shown in FIG. 12. In this embodiment, a mirror 520 has been added to the top surface 512 b of the suction tip portion. In addition, at its proximal end, a connection port has been added which includes various sizes of connection to adapt different sizes of vacuum hose. Furthermore, the frontal ledge is eliminated in this embodiment.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, this specification and the accompanying drawings disclose only some specific forms as examples of the invention. The invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments so described; however, the scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims. 

We claim:
 1. A suction tip for a surgical instrument, comprising: a hollow housing having a top flat wall spaced apart from a bottom flat wall and including a tip chamber extending through the hollow housing between the top flat wall and the bottom flat wall, each one of the top flat wall and the bottom flat wall having a terminal end, the hollow housing including a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end having a widened tip portion that is wider than the proximal end; a ledge portion of the bottom flat wall extending outwardly past the terminal end of the top flat wall; a plurality of suction ports formed in the distal end and passing into the tip chamber, at least one of the suction ports being located proximate a terminal end of the top flat wall such that the suction port is set back from a terminal end of the ledge portion; an exit port located at the proximal end for discharging flow.
 2. The suction tip according to claim 1, wherein the suction ports are located on a top, a front, a left side, and a right side of the widened tip portion.
 3. The suction tip according to claim 1, wherein the ledge portion protrudes past a left side and a right side of the top flat wall.
 4. The suction tip according to claim 1, wherein the bottom flat wall has an underside including serrations.
 5. A suction tip for a surgical retractor, comprising: a hollow housing having a top flat wall spaced apart from a bottom flat wall and including a tip chamber extending through the hollow housing between the top flat wall and the bottom flat wall, each one of the top flat wall and the bottom flat wall having a terminal end, the hollow housing including a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end having a widened tip portion that is wider than the proximal end; a ledge portion of the bottom flat wall extending outwardly past the terminal end of the top flat wall; a plurality of suction ports formed in the distal end and passing into the tip chamber, at least one of the suction ports being located proximate a terminal end of the top flat wall such that the suction port is set back from a terminal end of the ledge portion; a handle extending from the hollow housing for holding the suction tip; and an exit port located at the proximal end for discharging flow.
 6. The suction tip according to claim 5, wherein the hollow housing is a unitary piece.
 7. A suction tip for a surgical instrument, comprising: a hollow housing, having a top flat wall spaced apart from a bottom flat wall and including a tip chamber extending through the hollow housing between the top flat wall and the bottom flat wall, each one of the top flat wall and the bottom flat wall having a terminal end, the hollow housing including a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end having a widened tip portion that is wider than the proximal end; a ledge portion of the bottom flat wall extending outwardly past the terminal end of the top flat wall; a plurality of suction ports formed in the distal end and passing into the tip chamber, at least one of the suction ports being located proximate a terminal end of the top flat wall such that the suction port is set back from a terminal end of the ledge portion; an exit port located at the proximal end for discharging flow; and a fastening means to mount the suctioning tip to an existing surgical instrument. 